William Everett Schluter (November 5, 1927 – August 6, 2018) was an American Republican Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, who served in both houses of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

in two separate instances.

Early life and career

Schluter was born on November 5, 1927, in

Bronxville, New York Bronxville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the town of Eastchester. The village comprises one square mile (2.5 km2) of land in its entirety, a ...

to Frederic E. and Charlotte M. Schluter. He grew up in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

and attended

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, where he played on the hockey team. In 1950 he married Nancy Albright Hurd. They settled in

Pennington, New Jersey Pennington is a borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The borough is located at the cross-roads between the Delaware Valley region to the south and the Raritan Valley region to the north. As of the 2010 United States Census, th ...

. Schluter was elected to the Pennington Borough Council in 1963 and served for six years. He was a delegate to the

1964 Republican National Convention The 1964 Republican National Convention took place in the Cow Palace, Daly City, California, from July 13 to July 16, 1964. Before 1964, there had been only one national Republican convention on the West Coast, the 1956 Republican National Conven ...

for

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

New Jersey Legislature

Schluter ran an unsuccessful campaign for the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

in 1965 against Sido L. Ridolfi in the 6th Legislative District encompassing all of Mercer County. However two years later, he was elected to the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

from District 6A (encompassing Mercer County outside of Trenton and Ewing) and was reelected in 1969. In 1970, Schluter was appointed to the New Jersey Election Law Revision Commission, which produced a landmark report in 1975 recommending ways to reform New Jersey's election laws and curb political corruption. Schluter later wrote in 2017, "This report and the work of the Commission inspired me to take up the banner of reform, which has been the backbone of my political career ever since." In 1971, in a newly reapportioned legislative district combining parts of Mercer County and all of

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

. However two years later in 1973 in a new 14th district encompassing Mercer, Hunterdon,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, and

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

counties, Schluter lost the seat in 1973 to

Anne Clark Martindell Anne Clark Martindell (July 18, 1914 – June 11, 2008) was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, as well as a diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to New Zealand from 1979 to 1981. Early life and family Anne Cl ...

, as Democrats took control of the State Legislature in the wake of the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

. In 1976 Schluter ran for a seat in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from the 13th congressional district against the Democratic incumbent, Helen Stevenson Meyner, who like Martindell, had won in a Republican-leaning district in the aftermath of Watergate. In the hotly contested race, Meyner defeated Schluter by a narrow margin. In 1978 Schluter ran for the House seat again but lost in the Republican primary to

Jim Courter James Andrew Courter (born October 14, 1941) is an American Republican Party politician, lawyer, and businessman. He represented parts of northwestern New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. In 1989, he uns ...

, who went on to defeat Meyner in the general election. Schluter returned to the

in 1987, when

Dick Zimmer Richard Alan Zimmer (born August 16, 1944) is an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and in the United States House of Representatives. He was the Republican nominee for ...

moved from the Assembly to the Senate following the death of Senator

Walter E. Foran Walter Edge "Moose" Foran (May 14, 1919 – December 8, 1986) was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Arthur F. Foran, wh ...

. Schluter won a special election Zimmer's Assembly seat in the 23rd district, and then was appointed to the State Senate after Zimmer succeeded Courter in the House of Representatives in 1991. Schluter's Assembly seat was filled by

Leonard Lance Leonard John Lance (born June 25, 1952) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for , from 2009 to 2019. He ran for re-election in 2018, but was defeated by Democrat Tom Malinowski. He is a member of the Rep ...

Gubernatorial bid and later career

Schluter served in the State Senate until 2001, when he would have had to run against a fellow incumbent, Democratic Senator

Shirley Turner Shirley Kersey Turner (born July 3, 1941) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 1998, where she represents the 15th Legislative District. Early life Turner was born in Dover, ...

, due to

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

. Instead, he ran as an independent in the race for

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

, with the help of Doug Friedline, the former campaign manager of Governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota. The relationship brought an endorsement from Gov.

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. However a few weeks later, on September 11, 2001 the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City caused an immediate cessation of political campaigning in New Jersey, and supporters diverted their otherwise campaign contributions to disaster relief organizations. This prevented Schluter from raising sufficient funds to qualify in the gubernatorial televised debates. By the time the race restarted, Schluter lagged far behind Democrat

Jim McGreevey James Edward McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd governor of New Jersey from 2002 until his resignation in 2004 following the revelation of his extramarital affair w ...

and Republican Brett Schundler, and garnered only 1% of the vote. Schluter was appointed to the State Ethics Commission in 2006 by Governor

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

. He was a resident of

. Schluter remained somewhat active in New Jersey politics. He was the author of a book, ''Soft Corruption: How Unethical Conduct Undermines Good Government and What To Do About It'', published in spring 2017 by Rutgers University Press. Schluter died on August 6, 2018 in his Pennington home following complications from pancreatic cancer of which he had been diagnosed for two years.

References

External links

New Jersey Legislature - Senator William E. Schluter (R)
(Archived version from November 9, 2001) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schluter, William E. 1927 births 2018 deaths New Jersey city council members Republican Party New Jersey state senators People from Bronxville, New York People from Princeton, New Jersey People from Pennington, New Jersey Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Politicians from Mercer County, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey Independents Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in New Jersey